Dive Charters Calling Off a Dive

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A buddy of mine owns an 80' dive boat in So. California. He is always calling me.. lamenting how some of his customers will get frustrated and complain when he cancels a trip due to bad weather.. he often cancels the night prior without even leaving the harbor.

What many of them do not realize.. is he is an old time diver and we used to dive the area from our private boats for many years prior to him buying his charter boat. Through our experience he's learned to be able to equate the diving conditions with the sea state. If the seas are at a certain rough condition.. the boat trip will be rough and the diving will suck when at the islands.

In the old days.. if the weather was iffy.. he used to make a show of putting in an effort to make the channel crossing, he'd load the boat with passengers and crew early in the morning make the run out the harbor then make an attempt at a runtowards the islands for about 45 minutes or so.. and often turning back with a boat full of dissapointed customers.

Now a days.. fuel prices are much higher, and instead he now often doesnt making the attempt.. . and he calls the divers the night prior..saving them the trip to the boat.. saves on his crew costs.. saves on wasting fuel... but he still gets a bad rap from some who dont "get it".

Damned if you do.. dammed if you dont..
 
I don't mind if you call a trip on account of weather. In fact, I like that-you are exercising good judgment. I HATE when you call me the night before to tell me that not enough people signed up. So often the charters will make it sound like they are nearly booked when you call and then you find out that no one else was ever signed on.
 
Computer games are constant.
Perhaps a doom styled diving game, buddies against captains against general public against old time divers against reg techs against new divers against bp against instructors against recs against dive shops against other buddies against not so new divers against dir with potus as dm making no decisions for anyone all in a boat in the OCEAN?
 
Down at Islamorda in February a couple of years ago myself and a diver from Luxembourg tried to get out for 2 straight days - seas too heavy and no charters going out. The third morning went to the dive shop and the operator said they were not going out but he found an op that would take just the two of us and gave us the name and directions. As we were leaving he said he didn't know who was crazier, us or the dive op! We went (again, just the two of us) and the sea was pretty rough - I estimated 5-6 foot. On the way out I was getting a little queasy. The first reef dive was good once we got under, but back on the surface I got sea sick trying to get back aboard. Finally caught a wave that slammed me into the boat but got onto the ladder. I was handing up my camera when it slipped and went back down without me. [The DM retrieved it for me a little later]. Back on board I got deathly green sick and called the dive, but they did go to the 2nd dive site and the DM and diver from LUX went in and had a good dive. After getting over being sick I decided I would chance it again as the first dive (down under) was worth it.
 
Well I would have been glad that the boat didn't cancel, given the conditions you state. It's something you have to decide yourself if the charter won't cancel. Even if it means no refund it's better to call the dive than do something you feel is unsafe.

I haven't been out in a boat that I have felt has pushed it a bit with the weather but I have a high tolerance for bad weather. I like the fact that there are charters that have different tolerances for weather. Some go out in all kinds of conditions and that suits me but if I am diving with someone new or who gets seasick I'll pick a charter that is more likely to cancel if the weather is iffy.

Before each dive I look up all the weather info to see what to expect. Most charters will give a refund if you cancel more than 24 hours out and locally to me you can get a pretty good idea of the weather a day before.
 
I've read 2 or 3 post talking about sea sickness as in "I don't get sea sick so I would go out." That is valid because I have heard (thankfully never been) that sea sickness is one of the worse feelings.

For me, and I am sure others who say, I wouldn't go out in anything above X (with X=3 for me), it isn't sea sickness that is the issue. In fact, I enjoy being out when the seas are kicking. The issue is that I don't really enjoy being beat nearly to death trying to get back on the boat after the dive.

Boat size, frequency of the waves, equipment for boarding the boat and age are all factors in determining if X height of seas is too high.
 
The boats I dive of in my area have specific conditions on what they can dive, if the wind is forecast beyond a certain value, they can not go out and be insured.
 
I would also like to remind divers that when it comes to a dive anyone can call the dive for what ever reason they feel is appropriate. If you are doing a boat dive you can certainly ask before you pay under what conditions the boat would cancel under. .
 
The boats I dive of in my area have specific conditions on what they can dive, if the wind is forecast beyond a certain value, they can not go out and be insured.

In my experience, I find it unlikely that the insurance companies have any such restrictions in their contracts. Businesses frequently pass blame to their insurers for decisions they themselves make because they do not want to take the responsibility or explain their actions to their customers.
 

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